Exonerating the Distinguished Jurists

Ibn Taymiyya's Raf‘ al-Malām ‘an al-A'imma al-A'lām in Translation

by Abdul-Hakim al-Matroudi

Book cover: Exonerating the Distinguished Jurists

Hardback (Published)

(January 2023)

ISBN: 9781800501713

6.65 x 9.57 inches

Price: $100.00

In stock

In Raf‘ al-Malām ‘an al-A’imma al-A’lām Ibn Taymiyya pursues the argument as to why a mujtahid might depart from directly acting upon textual evidences. This forms the basis of his discussion regarding the causes underlying disagreements found among Muslim scholars in general and their holding differing legal opinions and proffering divergent arguments in support of those opinions. In this work, Ibn Taymiyya calls for tolerance and understanding of the conclusions arrived at by eminent Muslim scholars. Additionally, he insists that even if a scholar was to err in their judgement, it should not be assumed that they intentionally ignored textual evidence as there could be various reasons for what others consider to be a departure from textual evidences. Hence, according to Ibn Taymiyya, such scholars should not be seen as blameworthy and liable to punishment but rather they should be revered as scholars who exercised their right of ijtihad. Thus, even if such a scholar was thought to have erred, there would most certainly be a methodological reason behind such a departure, rather than an intentional contradiction of the relevant textual evidences. Additionally, Ibn Taymiyya asserts that liability for the punishment depends on the existence of certain conditions and the non-existence of impediments and he affirms that reaching certainty in this regard is almost impossible as this is clearly a very complex and complicated process. In this work it is evident that Ibn Taymiyya benefited from various traditions of learning in which he excelled, including jurisprudence, Hadith and philosophy and hence produced a remarkable work which has proved relevant from the time it was authored about eight centuries ago until our present day. This work contains the Arabic text Raf‘ al-Malām ‘an al-A’imma al A’lām and its translation.

Preface Introduction 1. Translation of Raf‘
al-Malā
m ‘
an al-A'imma al-A'lā
m 2. Reasons behind the Divergence of a Scholar's Opinion from a Hadith 3. The Opinions of Scholars and the Question of Error 4. Can a Scholar who Fails to Adhere to the Implications of a Text be Chastened? 5. The Purpose of Threats of Punishment within Textual Evidence 6. The Implications of Categorical and Probable Hadiths 7. General and Specific Threats of Punishment 8. Categorical Proof and the Threat of Punishment 9. Threat(s) of Punishment in Case of Difference of Opinion 10. The Domain of Hadiths Comprising Threats of Punishment 11. Are the Independent Scholar (Mujthid) and the Imitator (Muqallid) beyond the Jurisdiction of Punishment? 12. Conclusion

  • By (author) Abdul-Hakim al-Matroudi